I Became a 6★ Gacha Character-363 - The Empire’s Hidden Strength 3

TL/Editor: raei

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Of course, there was a temple in the City of Adventurers. It was like someone living in the 21st century saying, "There's a hospital in my neighborhood." Not having a hospital nearby meant you were in a seriously underdeveloped rural area.

In this world, temples served as both churches and hospitals. That's why they were the most familiar places for adventurers who risked their lives exploring dangerous locations.

So the Empire's temple before me felt familiar too. There seemed to be subtle differences, but to an architectural layman like me, it was like being asked to distinguish between Greek and Roman temples.

"This way, please."

However, the priest before me was an unfamiliar type.

The black color of his priestly robes wasn't a big issue, but when the man wearing them instinctively controlled his movements, it naturally piqued my curiosity.

Clean and neat black priestly robes instead of cheap brown or mouse-colored monk's habits, footsteps flowing through the market crowd like water, a calm voice clearly audible amidst the bustling chaos, and even the heavy fist briefly revealed between wide sleeves.

I didn't have a system window like Han Se-ah to check NPCs' star ratings, but one thing was certain. This person guiding me, regardless of his innate rating, was at least a high-level monk in his current state.

'A monk, sure, but more like an inquisitor? There's also an assassin vibe...'

A tingling sensation hit my fingertips. Despite no hint of hostility, my body's subtle reaction suggested he reeked of blood.

Well, even the kingdom's inquisitors were quite busy, so how much more in the Empire with its vast territory? As they say, the more branches a tree has, the less likely it is to have a calm day. And if he was affiliated with the Grand Temple, not just an ordinary one, he must have been running himself ragged.

With such thoughts, I slowly followed the man in black priestly robes towards the enormous Grand Temple.

"By the way, where are we going?"

"Ah, I was told to escort Sir Roland when he arrived. Someone else will explain the details in the reception room."

I didn't even know why I was going to the Grand Temple, and it seemed the guiding priest didn't know much either. I wasn't a criminal, so there was no reason to hide the truth.

As we walked slowly in this awkward atmosphere, Han Se-ah's camera followed us like a ghost.

"Wow, is that the Grand Temple? It feels a bit like the Season 2 tutorial, being stuck outside the Magic Tower. I guess this tutorial will end once Roland finishes his business at the Grand Temple? But why can't we leave until the enhancement event is over..."

-Hey Han, shut up and do your workbook.

-So what advanced magic did you decide to learn? Didn't you make a mess last time trying to choose?

-Dunno, but a bunch of Japs rushed in and started donating like Superchat, asking if there's magic similar to anime.

-What Japs, you f*cking idiot ????

-There were a lot of Japanese people before, why are you calling them Japs? Are you insane?

"Oh, magic? It ended up being a battle between fire and ice, but ice seems better for advanced magic, so I decided on Ice Storm. Advanced fire is just that Hell Fire you always see in fantasy, with single target extreme damage plus sustained damage... Honestly, Teacher Roland beating them up would probably be faster in that time."

-That's right. Mages aren't damage dealers, they're all-purpose errand boys lool

-This kind of mage feels too strange for someone who played K-RPGs

-But for advanced ice magic, what is it? Do you shoot big, manly icicles or something?

-You said you gave up on dealing damage, why do you keep trying to shoot things? Are you American?

After hearing the Ice Storm explanation, it seems to have low power but extremely wide-area range. Seems fitting for an advanced spell.

It seemed she was being forced to learn magic at the Magic Tower while I was on this inexplicable root-finding Imperial journey.

I guessed there were separate events for each player's class. Seeing how mages learned magic at the Magic Tower, I supposed those who handled swords might learn a thing or two at the Swordsmen's Guild or the Knights Order, and archers might learn ranger skills. It was like some kind of quick and easy modern tutoring for otherworlders.

With a hologram window hovering around the back of the man's head, I looked around while pretending to look at him, walking alongside the camera. The Grand Temple's appearance became clear. There was certainly a reason it was called the "Grand" Temple.

"Please wait here for a moment. Someone will come out."

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Father."

"It was my duty. May the Goddess's blessings be with you too, Sir Roland."

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I thought the temple in the City of Adventurers was quite large, but compared to the Grand Temple, the difference was like that between a skyscraper and a neighborhood villa.

As vast as the land was, so was the building. From the moment I stepped through the entrance, it felt like entering a huge museum. I'd say all the various guild buildings in the City of Adventurers combined probably wouldn't match the scale of the Grand Temple.

Still, true to the doctrine of the temple that preached the equality of all life, there were no surrounding walls. But perhaps because of that, the tall and large temple building stood out even more.

At this point, it might have been more apt to say that a town grew around the Grand Temple rather than the Grand Temple being in the city.

Han Se-ah seemed to think the same, as she was making all sorts of fuss while filming my surroundings with her camera. So I could admire the temple while sitting in a spacious yet modest reception room.

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Raei Translations

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A reception room is a room for receiving guests.

Nod.

For some reason, the face of a Japanese politician I saw in my previous life came to mind, but anyway, that was right. In any case, it meant they had the ability to prepare a separate room for receiving guests, and since it was a place to converse with guests, it didn't need to be particularly lavish.

Nobles might fill their reception rooms with all sorts of ultra-luxury furniture and branded items in a sort of pride contest, but if a temple serving the Goddess pulled that sh*t, you'd better run to the confessional instead of the infirmary if you got struck by lightning on the street.

"You've come a long way from the Kingdom, brother."

"Ah, yes..."

"Still, since we've met after a while, this old woman will speak comfortably, if you don't mind."

That's why the temple's reception room, while quite spacious for a reception room, wasn't lavishly decorated. Add to that the fact that the nun who came to see me was a plump old woman straight out of a Ghibli animation, and it felt like I was in the house of a well-off grandmother in the countryside.

Snow-white hair, a large hooked nose, wrinkled skin, and a benevolent smile. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to say this about a nun, but she was the person the term 'kind witch' suited better than anyone else in the world.

The problem was that I didn't know why I was here or who this nun was. As my resentment towards the scatterbrained Goddess gradually built up, only to subside when I thought of the holy sword's ignore defense and damage multiplier, the nun leisurely savoring her tea opened her mouth.

"Hoho, Roland. Roland Bretagne. You set off alone for the Kingdom and seem to have gained more than expected. This too must be the will of the Goddess."

"...?"

"The story of you climbing that troublesome tower in the Kingdom, traveling with the warrior who received divine revelation from the Goddess, and being chosen by the holy sword has reached even this old woman's ears."

"...???"

"If the Border Count of Bretagne had heard this story, he would have been so happy."

My head was in a whirl from the nun's words, speaking as if she knew me well, even my family. Was she not just a nun from the Grand Temple, but more like a grandmother I'd known since childhood?

Of course, my memories only started from the point when I suddenly woke up in the Kingdom 11 years ago. I had no knowledge of young Roland or family or anything, having possessed a mature, muscular male body whose growth had already finished.

The one fortunate point was that this nun, after leisurely enjoying the aroma of her tea, closed her eyes gently and began to mutter to herself. As if understanding that I didn't want to engage in conversation, she started detailing Roland's past that I never asked about.

As expected, Goddess. I wasn't believing, but anyway.

"Oh, is Roland's past being revealed? Come to think of it, we've been together for over a year, but Roland never talked about his family. Grace unni even went to the village, Irene unni lives in the temple so it's hard to ask, and Katie... well, everyone knows she's a runaway princess."

-Come to think of it, Teacher Roland is the only one from the Empire.

-Is the Empire a later-stage area, so it has more stars? Like level differences in RPGs?

-But the princess has 6 stars too.

-Suddenly craving popcorn and cola, but if I order now, I'll miss Teacher Roland's story, right?

-Lol the great sword bastards will go crazy if Teacher Roland's past is revealed.

Ignoring the annoyingly fidgeting camera, I listened to the old nun's muttering as she reminisced about the past.

Roland of Lombardo, Roland Bretagne.

The only son of the Border Count of Bretagne, a young genius knight who showed innate talent at the sword tournament of Lombardo, the sword monastery protecting the Empire

――Or so he would have been, but after his father's death, he became disillusioned with the Empire, didn't inherit his territory, and fled to the Kingdom. A former Imperial noble, now a Kingdom adventurer.

...Were the nobles in this world obsessed with running away from home?